Steve Taylor is in dire need of a kidney transplant. ANY blood type can work. After four years of dialysis, his kidneys were removed in March. Please help! Description I’m posting this page on behalf of the love of my life, my sweet husband, Steve Taylor. In March of this year, Steve had both of his kidneys removed. He’s had only trouble since then: high blood pressure, pneumonia, and the buildup of chemicals in his blood that have deteriorated his overall health. He continues to work full-time and look after his 94-year-old mother who is living with Alzheimer’s despite his lengthy dialysis sessions, fatigue and pain. The fact is, Steve is in desperate need of a kidney and could very well die waiting on a transplant. It all started in February of 2006, when Steve was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD)—an incurable, genetic disease he didn’t even know ran in his family. We had only been married nine months! A short two years later, Steve’s health had drastically deteriorated because his own kidneys were barely able to clear enough of the deadly toxins that were building up in his blood each day. Simple daily tasks like taking a shower and getting dressed were exhausting, but somehow Steve kept going, continuing to work full-time. After a steady decline in health, Steve began dialysis in 2009. Steve’s body continued to make cysts in his kidneys, causing him to be plagued with very high fevers—sometimes up to 104 degrees—requiring hospitalization and high powered antibiotics for days at a time. Over time, those high fevers occurred more and more frequently, and in the beginning of 2013, doctors determined that his kidneys would need to be removed. The doctors at Vanderbilt (Nashville, TN) have reported a severe shortage of O blood-type kidneys, so it’s unlikely that he’ll get a transplant within the next year—even though he’s been waiting since 2008. That’s five years of medicine (he takes 24 pills a day now), five years of dialysis (he’s up to 4 ½ hour sessions, 3 times a week), and eight years since diagnosis trying to find a donor. So here we are, at the end of 2013, and Steve’s at his worst. We do, however, have some good news on our plate: because Steve has no other disease processes going on, doctors tell us that he will do wonderfully once he is transplanted. They assure us that PKD patients have the highest success rates once they receive a transplant. In addition, his Panel Reactive Antibodies (PRA) is ZERO!! This means if he gets a kidney his immune system will not likely fight very hard to try to reject the transplanted organ. This is huge! We ask our family, friends and those whom we’ll likely never meet as this page is shared to pray for Steve and do whatever you can to help. We need a hero and are praying for a miracle. There are tons of highly regarded medical studies that prove without a doubt that donating a kidney DOES NOT shorten a donor’s life. If you’ve ever thought about becoming a living kidney donor- or know someone who might, PLEASE contact us and “share your spare.” If you do nothing else, please SHARE THIS PAGE!
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 07:21:54 +0000
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